Complaint Review: SonaMedSpa

I do not have first hand knowledge of the events involving "Rsh" and her disputed credit card charges with Sona Medspa Miami. I do know that I was charged for treatments at Sona Medspa in Miami and I was not given the services I paid for. "In the know" has a rebuttal to "Rsh" that simply does not make sense. "In the know" claims "Sona tried to be highly ethical" in reference to charges for future treatments. "In the know" also claims "Sona was very conscious of the need to maintain the good will of the customers, particularly since there were many customers that had pre-paid their treatments".

Therefore, "In the know" claims as February 29, 2008 loomed customers were not being billed for future treatments. If this is true why is it that i was billed $1875 on January 25, 2008 for a series of treatments that should have taken at least 6 months to complete? Should Gloria Lerma Lopez be given the benefit of the doubt and assume that she only realized her ship was sinking on or around February 1, 2008? I do not subscribe to that belief! You should know that Gloria has extensive experience in accounting. She worked for Deloitte as well as several other companies in positions related to accounting. As a matter of fact, she held positions such as Financial analyst & manager of financial reporting for large corporations.

So let me see if I get the gist of "In the know(s)" inference...Gloria, who has an extensive knowledge of accounting only realized her looming bankrupcty shortly before it happened? A person which such extensive knowledge of business and finance had to of known of these financial issues at least 6 months prior to the demise Sona Miami...if not longer. Does a business owner that is trying to act in good faith direct her answer service to inform her customers that the "office has been flooded" when in truth the doors have been closed for good due to financial ruin? My numerous phone calls left to Gloria were not answered...is this acting in good faith? My certified letter to Glorias home did not receive a response by her nor a call; rather by her bankruptcy lawyer indicating I could file a claim...is this good faith to a customer or an easy way out for Gloria? It would have been decent to receive a call or letter from Gloria explaining her situation...as well as a sincere appology for waisting my time.

In closing I truly feel that no one at Sona Medspa Miami was acting in good faith when the doors closed. "Rsh" is a frustrated customer just like me...we have wasted plenty of time trying to get our money back. "In the know" claims that "Rsh" was "harsh to accuse a company of deceptive practices on-line, for all the world to see, without knowing for a fact that the company intentionally ripped you off"... well I hope the world can see now that "Rsh" was ripped off and I was ripped off as well...both of us with similar schemes! ...and of course...mistakes happened and reputations must now assume the consequences! As a note...I have being reimbursed thanks to GE Money bank / GE Care Credit.

You are obviously going to be biased since you have a working relationship with these people. I am a frustrated customer; Sona did not even have the common decency to contact me in person and explain what was going on. I received a call days before my appointment from an independent company telling me they had temporarily closed down to due to water damage! Only upon further investigation did I realize that they had closed their doors for good.

I feel as though I was taken advantage of, and I would not expect you to understand, since all you keep doing is trying to make excuses for them. As far as damaging reputations, I simply stated facts regarding these individuals, not my personal opnion of them. There was no defamation of character in anything that I said, I simply stated the facts, and the facts are what they are.. facts.

I came on this website with one objective in mind, to share my story, which is entirely true. I refuse to continue this online debate with you; you believe that it was an oversight on the part of Sona, I however do not. We will continue to have differing opinions on that, which is fine by me. Good luck to you in your future endeavours.

Consider this my final post on the matter. End of Story.

As I also said in my rebuttal, perhaps there was a miscommunication, or perhaps the employee you corresponded with did not let the people doing the billing know that they were not supposed to charge your account. The policy was to take 50% of the payment up front and then bill the second half 30 days later. If you made a special arrangement that deviated from the standard after the initial agreement, perhaps it did not get to the billing folks.

All I can say is that Sona never intentionally billed anyone without their specific approval. It is difficult to say what your particular situation was, without knowing who you are. Also, now that the business is closed and the owners no longer have access to the billing systems, any research capabilities are limited to what's in the medical file.

I just think it is harsh to accuse a company of deceptive practices on-line, for all the world to see, without knowing for a fact that the company intentionally ripped you off. Furthermore, you put people's names in there. Their reputations may be tainted, and I believe with all my heart that nothing unethical was ever intended.

To whom it may concern:

I can assure you that my credit card was indeed charged for the split payment after Carrie and I came to an agreement to defer my split payment until my second treatment.

How can you say that this is not true when I have the proof. Were you the employee responsible for processing payments? I have in my possesion my credit card statement, and emails between myself and employees of Sona stating that they will NOT charge my credit card until I have my second treatment; then I scheduled my second treatment for 11 March;On March 5, 2008 , Sna was informed by the owners of Belle Luce that the Center had closed its doors.

Unless, I am missing something, perhaps it is you, who is mistaken. The facts speak for themselves, and as I said previously, unless you were the employee responsible for processing my credit card transaction, how could you knwo that this is not true? Would you bet all of your money in the bank on it? NO! Then I suggest that you refrain from making comments about issues that you clearly know nothing about. If you say that they are not in the habit of doing so, and this is a one off situation; then I could appreciate that, and give Bella Luce, operating under Sona the benefit of the doubt. However, since I have had to deal with this issue with my credit card company; please be assured that I know exactly what I am talking about.

To whom it may concern:

I can assure you that my credit card was indeed charged for the split payment after Carrie and I came to an agreement to defer my split payment until my second treatment.

How can you say that this is not true when I have the proof. Were you the employee responsible for processing payments? I have in my possesion my credit card statement, and emails between myself and employees of Sona stating that they will NOT charge my credit card until I have my second treatment; then I scheduled my second treatment for 11 March;On March 5, 2008 , Sna was informed by the owners of Belle Luce that the Center had closed its doors.

Unless, I am missing something, perhaps it is you, who is mistaken. The facts speak for themselves, and as I said previously, unless you were the employee responsible for processing my credit card transaction, how could you knwo that this is not true? Would you bet all of your money in the bank on it? NO! Then I suggest that you refrain from making comments about issues that you clearly know nothing about. If you say that they are not in the habit of doing so, and this is a one off situation; then I could appreciate that, and give Bella Luce, operating under Sona the benefit of the doubt. However, since I have had to deal with this issue with my credit card company; please be assured that I know exactly what I am talking about.

To whom it may concern:

I can assure you that my credit card was indeed charged for the split payment after Carrie and I came to an agreement to defer my split payment until my second treatment.

How can you say that this is not true when I have the proof. Were you the employee responsible for processing payments? I have in my possesion my credit card statement, and emails between myself and employees of Sona stating that they will NOT charge my credit card until I have my second treatment; then I scheduled my second treatment for 11 March;On March 5, 2008 , Sna was informed by the owners of Belle Luce that the Center had closed its doors.

Unless, I am missing something, perhaps it is you, who is mistaken. The facts speak for themselves, and as I said previously, unless you were the employee responsible for processing my credit card transaction, how could you knwo that this is not true? Would you bet all of your money in the bank on it? NO! Then I suggest that you refrain from making comments about issues that you clearly know nothing about. If you say that they are not in the habit of doing so, and this is a one off situation; then I could appreciate that, and give Bella Luce, operating under Sona the benefit of the doubt. However, since I have had to deal with this issue with my credit card company; please be assured that I know exactly what I am talking about.

To whom it may concern:

I can assure you that my credit card was indeed charged for the split payment after Carrie and I came to an agreement to defer my split payment until my second treatment.

How can you say that this is not true when I have the proof. Were you the employee responsible for processing payments? I have in my possesion my credit card statement, and emails between myself and employees of Sona stating that they will NOT charge my credit card until I have my second treatment; then I scheduled my second treatment for 11 March;On March 5, 2008 , Sna was informed by the owners of Belle Luce that the Center had closed its doors.

Unless, I am missing something, perhaps it is you, who is mistaken. The facts speak for themselves, and as I said previously, unless you were the employee responsible for processing my credit card transaction, how could you knwo that this is not true? Would you bet all of your money in the bank on it? NO! Then I suggest that you refrain from making comments about issues that you clearly know nothing about. If you say that they are not in the habit of doing so, and this is a one off situation; then I could appreciate that, and give Bella Luce, operating under Sona the benefit of the doubt. However, since I have had to deal with this issue with my credit card company; please be assured that I know exactly what I am talking about.

This report is simply not true. Sona closed on February 29th, 2008. Although it was a very beautiful business with great employees and great customers and great service, it was very very costly to operate. In the current economic environment, people were just not spending on cosmetic procedures. So the company, a fairly new business, was not profitable. The owners simply maxed out their own personal funds, and the unfortunate reality is that the business had to close. The owners lost a huge amount of money.

As it started to become apparent that closing was inevitable, Sona stopped charging folks their remaining balances. Sona started not requiring a 50% deposit, but instead, charged folks each time they came in for a treatment. Sona tried to be highly ethical. In fact, as February 29th approached, some customers came in for their first treatment and insisted on paying for all five treatments up front. Sona performed their first treatment and then returned the checks for the full amount to the customers. In other words, they got their treatment for free.

Sona was very conscious of the need to maintain the good will of the customers, particularly since there were many customers that had pre-paid their treatments. So the person who made this report is simply wrong. She may have her dates wrong. Sona never charged anyone earlier than they were authorized by the customer. Or perhaps there was some mis-understanding or mis-communication.

Sona filed an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court of Miami-Dade County (Case #08-12399CA06). Anyone who had prepaid services should file a Proof of Claim in the Court of Miami Dade County for the amount owed to them. Everyone Sona owed services to was sent a letter by the Assignee with a claim form.